Album Notes

1 - In the Ear of the Beholder - Por la Clave Part II : I s an extended composition that approaches the clave in a much more complex way than Por la Clave (5). It includes an Interlude in 9/4 time signature, that happens twice in this composition. During Bobby's drum solo I'm using rhythms from the coco, a social dance music of Afro-Brazilian origin which was widespread in Northeastern Brazil in the 1930's. The saxophone is playing one of those rhythms from the North called carimbo which is usually performed on the marimba, a Northern Brazilian name for the Birimbau, a one string resonated musical bow of Angolan origin that has practically come to represent Afro-Brazilian folklore. This concept and others on this CD, are what represents the experimentation in the music of The ACE ( Afro-Caribbean Experimental ) Trio.

2 - Tambor - The Mix: Is based on a Timbal ( Drum ) rhythm that develops in to a series of different variations and then segues in to an Afro-Brazilian rhythm called Tambor de Mina. This rhythm originated on the west coast of Africa and was brought to Brazil by the slaves.

3 - Tropicando: Is a composition that contains three sections: Songo ( Cuba ) Calypso ( Trinidad ) and Mambo ( Cuba ), all which originated out of African rhythms. This composition was initially written for a sextet in 1997, and later rearrange for the ACE Trio in the year 2000.

4 - Songoajira: Is based on rhythms taken from the Cuban Songo and the Guajira. The Guajira is synonymous of the Blues; it represents the spectrum of the type of music i grew up listening to, and it represents my heritage.

5 - Por la Clave: Means "because of the clave". The term "Clave" is in reference to a two bar rhythmic figure that represents the soul and pulse of Afro-Cuban dace music. This composition is a Mambo in 7/4 time signature, and later breaks down in to a 4/4 Descarga groove that segues in to the blowing section.